An Albuquerque police commander is under fire after he sent an email to neighborhood leaders blaming two dozen officer-involved shootings on bad parenting, schools and the news media.

Foothills Area Commander Cliff Saylor wrote in an email earlier this month that also faulted courts, the mental health profession, the men shot for not following orders. He wrote that it was "absurd" to blame the officers for the shootings.

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Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz called the email a "lapse in judgment" and said Saylor received "a verbal counseling" for inappropriate use of his city email account.

The city has seen 24 officer-involved shootings -- 17 fatal -- since January 2010. Some minority activists are pressing for a U.S. Justice Department probe into the shootings.